Sunday Inspiration - Imagine

"At first people refuse to believe that a strange new thing can be done, then they begin to hope it can be done, then they see it can be done - Then it is done and all the world wonders why it was not done centuries ago."  Frances Hodgson Burnett

Imagine necklace

Where is your imagination taking you today?

Sunday Inspiration - Success

PEACE & LOVE ornaments by RecycledParts

“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children…to leave the world a better place…to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”                   ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Winter Garden

Look what I woke up to today!

Black-eyed Susans covered in ice

Pine Tree in my front yard all flocked from frozen fog

Cedar Tree full of ice crystals

Winter is so beautiful!

Pioneer Quilt

A few days ago I posted about a wonderful working quilt I had acquired that was made by a Great Plains pioneer woman.  It was so shabby, torn and worn out, but you could still see the original beauty.  Because it was so worn out, I washed it and cut it up, salvaging only what was useable.  Here are some pictures of the quilt top salvaged pieces:

A true crazy quilt design

Look at all the beautiful textures and colors!
I see a piece of fabric that still has a dart left in it.

Some very, very tiny pieces.
She made use of everything!

Pieces of the quilt all piled up.
I'm sure this pioneer homemaker had
a nice scrap pile that she kept adding to
so that nothing would go to waste.

Dying Art of Letter Writing

This week is National Letter Writing Week here in the US.  With email, Facebook and Twitter, it seems that sitting down to write a letter with pen and paper is becoming a dying art.  Don't get me wrong - I love email!  What an efficient and sustainable way to communicate.  However, there is something very special that happens when a letter is written, sent, delivered and then read.


I have a cousin in Chicago who I correspond with.  Also a girlfriend of 30 years in St. Louis.  When I receive one of their letters in my mailbox, it is as if I have received a priceless gift!  I read and reread their letters, written in their own hand, and it is as if a piece of themselves has been imparted into my life.  That's one thing that I like about a letter - I can put it in my pocket and carry it with me!


My husband and I dated before email.  We were separated for a season while I was away to college. I still have his love letters stored away in a box.  Try tying up a group of emails with a ribbon!  


In honor of letters, here are a few of my favorite Etsy finds:

Here is a lovely notecard by StoriesDivinations

Here is another beautiful notecard by ParrotDesignStudios

Wouldn't it be fun to type a letter on this typewriter from Brooklynretro?

I would love to hear a story about a special letter you received!

Pioneer Spirit

I love living on the Western Kansas High Plains!  Living here is so inspiring.  The strength of character, resourcefullness and just plain moxie it took to come here and set up housekeeping back in the 1880s is just amazing!  Imagine being 16 or 18 years old, packing up all your belongings and heading for the Great Plains homestead with your new husband, knowing you might never see your family again.  Remember, these were the days before telephone and Facebook.


Awhile back I happened on a tattered pioneer quilt at a local yard sale.  It was being used in the back of a pickup truck to give the farm dog a soft place to lay on trips to town.  What a treasure!  It was a scrap quilt that had been lovingly pieced in the crazy quilt style out of tiny still-good remnants.  Quilts made by pioneer women were working quilts, and this particular quilt had paid its dues.


I purchased this quilt right out of the pickup truck for a dollar, took it home, washed it in my washing machine and dried it in my dryer - Can you imagine?!?  It came out beautiful, though still tattered, ready to keep working.  I want to be like that quilt - resourceful and giving, no matter my age or circumstance.  

A Sherman County, Kansas, young pioneer woman with her sod house in the background.  Can you imagine living and raising a family there?

Look how young she is!  Can't you just see the character 

and determination in her eyes?

Here is a piece of that quilt, 

recycled yet again for another generation to enjoy.

What inspires you? I'd love to hear it!

Studio Organizing Idea

Hello, my friends!  I just wanted to show you how I organized my t-shirt stash.  I used one of those wire cube shelf things that I got at Target.  I ended up wiring the pieces together - that way it won't come apart on me when I pull out a shirt.  Then I folded the t-shirts in half crosswise, put the sleeves inward and then rolled them up tightly.   I put the shelving on a garage sale coffee table in order to increase the storage.  I plan to put baskets of scraps underneath.  


The colors look so pretty, I hate to use them now.  But this way I can see everything without rummaging through boxes.  It's easy to pull one out without disturbing the others.  

Here is the room in my studio cottage that I have the t-shirts.
Isn't that little handmade built-in cabinet great?

Here are all the t-shirts - aren't they pretty?
The icky shag carpet has to go - that's the plan! 

What creative idea have you come up with for organizing your stash and tools?